Everyone knows that the Stars were pretty busy this past offseason. When you list all their moves in one place, though, it’s really eye-opening just how much Jim Nill has done in the last few months.
-April: Hired Ken Hitchcock
-May: Traded for and signed Ben Bishop
-June: Lost Cody Eakin to Vegas. Acquired Marc Methot from Vegas. Signed Esa Lindell to a two-year deal
-July: Signed Martin Hanzal, Tyler Pitlick, and Alexander Radulov. Re-signed Patrick Nemeth, Radek Faksa, and Brett Ritchie.
-August: Re-signed Jamie Oleksiak
My fingers are kind of sore from typing all of that out. As Nill notes, however, winning the summer months doesn’t necessarily translate to winning actual games:
“We’re happy with the off-season, but in the end, we got to get to a point where we’re consistently in the playoffs,” Nill said. “You get in the playoffs, you have as good a chance as anybody of winning a Stanley Cup. The main thing is to be consistent, to be one of the teams that make the playoffs, and that’s what we’re striving for.”
Stephen Hunt discusses the moves, the stylistic changes, and more for the Stars in his season preview at the Star-Telegram.
Stars things
Get excited ladies and gentleman!
Here. We. Go. pic.twitter.com/3lXHujZYS1
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 14, 2017
And then reign it in a little bit, as the injury bug has already bitten Martin Hanzal and Miro Heiskanen. [NHL.com]
Maybe Martenet is just really bored?
D Chris Martenet has mono, expected to be out two months.
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) September 14, 2017
SportsNet’s power rankings (the Stars are #13) has a blurb about players on each team that are facing pressure. For the Stars, it’s Stephen Johns in his RFA year. For the Penguins, it’s…Antti Niemi? Okie dokie. [SportsNet]
Tyler Seguin talks about giving back to St. Michael’s College School, which he credits with setting him up for success as an NHL player. [Puck Daddy]
Mike Heika wonders what the future holds for Greg Pateryn. [SportsDayDFW]
Scotty B sits with Tommy G to discuss the upcoming season.
A conversation (in two parts, in two cities) with @DallasStars owner Tom Gaglardi. https://t.co/BlsvKs8SG0
— Scott Burnside (@OvertimeScottB) September 14, 2017
Around the League
If you could change one NHL rule, what would it be? The players have some pretty predictable answers: everyone wants to go to the Olympics, scorers want smaller goalie equipment, and goalies and d-men want the two line pass back. [ESPN]
And escrow! We got a token response about escrow: https://t.co/jKPqWNHZxk
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) September 13, 2017
Dave Lozo also weighs in on the rule change question in his NHL Mailbag. [The Comeback]
Alex Ovechkin released a statement conceding his likelihood to attend the Olympics and play for Russia – but not conceding his desire to do so at all. Something to watch as the next CBA negotiations approach.
Statement from Alex Ovechkin on 2018 Winter Olympics:https://t.co/dRv0aoq3aN
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 15, 2017
Down Goes Brown uses the Sedin twins as inspiration to write about five players who stayed with the only franchise they ever played for rather than leaving to chase a Cup. [The Hockey News]
With training camps in full swing, Jim Cerny takes a look at the key storyline for all thirty thirty-one teams heading into the season.
#NHL training camps open and I’ve got a storyline for each of the 31 teams. Check out my latest for @sn_nhl 👉 https://t.co/jp3kpiRQhT pic.twitter.com/ULVIcYh2TT
— Jim Cerny (@JimCerny) September 14, 2017
The Flames and the city of Calgary are in an ugly standoff concerning the building of a new arena. [Sporting News]
Matt Duchene reported to camp for the Avs but he doesn’t seem too pumped to be there. [The Denver Post]
Ryan Lambert has a league-wide training camp preview as well. [Puck Daddy]